A Review of 'Crop Protection in Medieval Agriculture. Studies in Pre-Modern Organic'

Marco Pautasso

doi:10.12924/of2015.01010046

Abstract

Highlights

“Tutto quello che fan gli uomini adesso ecronaca, diluita in migliaia di articoli, domani sarastoria, e di un migliaio di nomi, 999 saran perduti” [1]. This brilliant and original book by Jan Zadoks, a renowned, prolific and polyglot Dutch plant epidemiologist [2], provides a systematic, learned and well-structured overview of our understanding of medieval crop protection in Europe. This is not the first book in which Zadoks looks at crop protection from a wider perspective (e.g. [3]); the long-term experience of the author in research, teaching and scholarship transpires throughout
At a time when: i) scientific publications are growing at such a pace that the overflow in scientific information might be leading to a decline in overall scientific quality and public trust in science [4,5,6,7]; ii) there is often, little interest of scientists in the history of their own discipline [8]; iii) historical research is flourishing (e.g. [9,10,11]), including many historical studies of agriculturally related topics (e.g. [12,13,14,15,16,17,18]; iv) there are few incentives for scientists to write books rather than papers [19]; and v) most scientific books are so expensive that few students and citizens can afford to buy them [20,21]; Zadoks reminds us that crafting an affordable e-book, looking at historical times, can be enlightening in many ways
Studying medieval crop protection and agriculture teaches us that the holistic perspective of organic farming has a long tradition [24]: (p. 16) “Singling ‘crop protection’ out, separating it from its agronomical context, is an anachronism, a sequel of the analytical approach by the natural sciences in the 20th century ”

Summary

Introduction

This brilliant and original book by Jan Zadoks, a renowned, prolific and polyglot Dutch plant epidemiologist [2], provides a systematic, learned and well-structured overview of our understanding of medieval crop protection in Europe. This is not the first book in which Zadoks looks at crop protection from a wider perspective [12,13,14,15,16,17,18]; iv) there are few incentives for scientists to write books rather than papers (or emails) [19]; and v) most scientific books are so expensive that few students and citizens can afford to buy them [20,21]; Zadoks reminds us that crafting an affordable e-book, looking at historical times, can be enlightening in many ways.

Results

Conclusion